Aren’t you lucky – you get 2 posts
here at TTP this week!
I have just finished the 2-day National Association of Tax Professionals’ Tax Forum at Harrah’s on the Marina in
Atlantic City.
NATP created its Tax Forum, I believe,
because of the change of location of the Northeast IRS Nationwide Tax Forum a
few years ago from New York City (or occasionally Atlantic City) to the
National Harbor in Maryland. The
Northeast event had been one of most highly attended of the offerings, and the
new National Harbor venue is expensive and inconvenient for many northeast tax
pros.
While the individual educational
sessions are up to NATP’s usual standards, certainly at least equal to the IRS
sessions, the one aspect of the IRS Tax Forum that NATP obviously could not
duplicate was the unique IRS perspective on the topics discussed, and the
presence of a high-level IRS keynote speaker.
I do miss the IRS Forum and wish it would return to the NY metropolitan
area.
This NATP Tax Forum did, however,
offer case consultations with a representative of the Taxpayer Advocate
Service, something that is popular at and had been unique to the IRS Forums.
The complaints I had about the IRS
Forum also apply to NATP’s offering –
* the sessions are all limited to a
standard length - here each offering is I hour and 40 minutes – often either
too long or too short for an adequate presentation of the particular topic (a
similar complaint about the NATP National Conference sessions), and
* there are no tables in the “classrooms” –
making taking notes difficult.
In hindsight my attendance at this
year’s NATP Forum was not “cost effective”.
The out of pocket was much more than the value of what I actually
received (not the fault of NATP). I
booked very early in the year, to take advantage of a discount, before the
schedule of offerings were announced. I
will certainly wait until the schedule is announced before deciding to attend
next year.
One main reason for the lack of
value is unique to this year. As with
the National Conference (though not as much) the value of the event depends on
the extent of “new developments” in the area of tax law, IRS regulations, and
Tax Court decisions – with an emphasis on new tax law. While it was anticipated that there would be
tax reform legislation passed in 2017, there was absolutely no new tax laws
passed (actually not much, if any, new legislation passed on anything) yet. There still may be new tax law passed before
the year-end, though, unfortunately, more likely than not just token legislation,
which will make the annual NATP year-end update workshops more valuable.
The speakers had to really stretch
to fill a 2-hour session on updates and developments at the National
Conference, and nothing much of consequence has happened since August.
Another reason is unique to me. I am winding down my practice – I no longer
accept any new clients and am actively working to “thin the herd”. I no longer need to learn specific areas of
tax law with which I am not adequately experienced or knowledgeable because I
may get a client in the future to whom these areas might apply. I know my clients and what will apply to
them. If a unique new situation suddenly
applies to a client I will either tell them to go elsewhere or consult NATP’s
Research Department for instruction on the situation.
And, (1) having been a tax pro for
45 years and attending NATP and other organization conferences and workshops
for 30+ years, how many times do you need a session on depreciation – and (2) I
have absolutely no desire, or need, to sit through redundant ethics preaching.
There was, however, one unique event
that made my attendance worthwhile. I
was honored to be chosen to participate in a “Focus Group” on NATP membership
value and benefits. It was good to be
able to provide direct feedback to NATP and interesting to hear the thoughts
and comments of fellow tax pros, a couple who were acquaintances of mine from
the New Jersey chapter of NATP.
This was the first year that NATP
held an event at “the Marina”. Last
year, and past years’ year-end updates, were held at Bally’s on the
Boardwalk.
Harrah’s was a large and extensive
resort. As I told the NATP staff-person
when I was signing in – I will certainly get my exercise at this event (long
walk to the conference center). Three
years ago I would have complained about this – but no longer.
The room was clean and comfortable,
with an ocean view, and relatively reasonably priced. I had good experiences at the in-house
restaurants – with the exception of seeing the total on the bill I received at
the end of the meal. The food, in terms
of quality and quantity, and service was excellent, albeit very expensive.
The problem with being at the Marina
is that you are for all intents and purposes a “prisoner” of the resort – the
other hotel/casinos are not next door or even conveniently nearby. And if you want more than a sandwich or pizza
for dinner you need to spend $70+ - $100+ per
person, as I did, for a complete dinner (on the 3rd night I
limited dinner to soup and sandwich to try to balance the excessive spending of
the first 2 nights). And the line at the
$40+ buffet was humungous (I will no longer wait on line to give someone my
money).
Because the event was Monday and
Tuesday there were no shows or variety of evening entertainment options at
Harrah’s, and, again, it was truly difficult getting to other venues. I do not gamble – I no longer even do my
token $20 at the slots – so after dinner there is nothing to do except watch
tv, and the channel availability is truly limited (I have found that the “cheaper”
and less “glamorous” a lodging option the more channels there are on the
in-room tv).
Thankfully there was free wi-fi in
the room, so I could keep up with emails and news and do some writing.
I would prefer in the future the
NATP Forum returns to Bally’s, or even Caesars, on the Boardwalk, where less
expensive dining options, and things to do, were available both in-house and conveniently
nearby. If NATP returns to Harrah’s next
year I will not attend.
There is usually a “Part Two” to a
review of CPE events, where I discuss tax items of interest that I learned or
was reminded of at the education sessions.
Not this time. I literally took
only one note at the 5 sessions I attended.
TAFN
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